Strive Not to Drive envisions a Western North Carolina where communities have less traffic congestion, better air quality and safer streets for all. 

This year’s annual celebration is taking place May 15-22. The purpose is to encourage people to use sustainable transportation for one week. That includes making virtual engagements, walking, biking, riding public transit or even carpooling. 

Great Smoky Mountains National Park will offer Cades Cove cehicle-free days every Wednesday from May 6 to Sept. 30. These designated days give pedestrians and cyclists an opportunity to experience the 11-mile Cades Cove Loop Road without motor vehicles. 

At some points, engulfed in the rush of the ride, “your head feels like it’s going to pop off your shoulders,” said 2026 Remember the Removal mentor Freida Saylor. 

Saylor participated in RTR in 2025, a three-week, approximately 950-mile bike ride that traces the northern route of the Trail of Tears — one path of forced removal of the Cherokee people to Oklahoma from their Southern Appalachian homelands — following the 1830 Indian Removal Act signed by President Andrew Jackson.  

On a quiet stretch of county-owned land once defined by grass and gravel and garbage, a ribbon of asphalt now loops, banks and swells in tight rhythmic curves — engineered not for pedaling, but for flow. Riders generate speed by pumping their bodies through rollers and berms, transforming momentum into motion without ever turning a crank. In September, that motion will carry Haywood County into the international spotlight. 

The Town of Sylva was selected to be the host of the 2025 CycleNC Mountain Ride August 1-3, 2025, hosted by North Carolina Amateur Sports. Approximately 400 cyclists and their families from across the state will be attending. For this event, cyclists will be enjoying “go at your own pace” riding tours on country roads throughout Jackson County (and Swain County on Sunday). 

Great Smoky Mountains National Park will offer the first Cades Cove vehicle-free day of the year on June 18. Vehicle-free days provide opportunities for pedestrians and cyclists to experience the 11-mile Cades Cove Loop Road without motor vehicles. 

Join Jackson County Recreation from 2-5 p.m. Sunday, May 4, at Cullowhee Valley School for a bike rodeo.

This is a bicycle safety event where when you register you get a free helmet (while supplies last). All children will also be entered in a raffle to win a bike. 

North Carolina Amateur Sports announced that the Cycle North Carolina Mountain Ride is headed to Jackson County Aug. 1-3, 2025.  Registration for the 2025 Mountain Ride is now open at ncsports.org. 

For years, the old Francis Farm landfill was just that — a leaky, gassy problem that did little but sap resources from the county charged with maintaining it in perpetuity.

The National Park Service (NPS), in partnership with Catalyst Sports, Knox County, Kampgrounds of America Foundation and Friends of the Smokies, announced the expansion of adaptive ranger-led programs in 2024.